Aspiring Artistry

Bur-lap it Up!

I consider my design style (if I have one at all!) as fairly classic and traditional with a pinch of boho and a splash of modern thrown in for good measure. I tend to watch the trends, dream about how much I love them, but can't imagine who to fit them into my own decor (hello, spa blue and chocolate! Never figured that one out in my own house.)

With baited breath, I've been waiting for the burlap-apalooza to burn itself out, but alas, it lives on! Three or four years ago, on a trip to High Point market, we observed it everywhere, usually paired with the beachy, washed-out look. Since then, I think it's gone more mainstream, but is still typically paired with light, airy colors (which won't work in my bold-colored, purple, red, and yellow interiors).

This is one trend I could embrace wholeheartedly. I love it, for the simple color, the over the top texture, and the plain old simplicity of it. However, I'm certainly not planning to ditch my lovely silk and nailhead loveseat for it, or to pull down my gorgeous drapes to redo. So I'm searching for little ways to work it into an existing plan.

Earlier this year, I found a great printed burlap runner, of sorts. Not a typical runner, it's nicely lined and not a standard size, so I imagine it could be used as a wall hanging or in another decorative use. 

 

I like to pair it with a crisp white tablecloth, and casual-down the formal dining room using everyday dinnerware and natural woven place mats. 

Moving on to the kitchen, I wanted to insert a little burlap-feel here as well. Enter this photo (Pottery Barn, I believe) as an inspiration to add some excitement to plain-Jane chandelier shades.

Now, this chandelier is nothing like the one over our breakfast table, but the shades are the same, and I knew just where I could get some cool flat braided jute trim like those.

After doing some much-delayed additional fixes to the chandelier (extending the wiring and chain, sewing a cord cover out of basic linen, and actually hanging it centered over the table - hallelujah!), the new shades added just the right touch of rough texture.

Since runners and tableclothes are such an easy way to add a new texture to a room, I whipped up a new burlap one for this table. It's just wide enough that placemats (there they are again!) overlap it just enough.

Next up, some long pillows for the back of the bench seats. I'm contemplating using a regular bed pillow, sewn up and cut longways. The fabric might be burlap, might be light linen (like the cord cover), or perhaps a mix of both. Ahhh, I do have some of that jute trim left ....  

 

Sunprint Experimenting

As a photography buff, I've always loved making sunprints. And now with the total takeover of digital photography, I enjoy taking the process back to the most basic: light, shadow, image, exposure, development.

I found this stack of small (3x3) sunprints that I made last year and tucked away in a book. I wonder what else I might find if I start going through the bookshelves?

 

I imagine these would make really lovely prints, if enlarged and framed properly. I've certainly seen such artwork sold by mass-market publishers, but why buy those when it's so easy to make your own?

Or perhaps enlarged and printed straight on canvas? The texture of that might be a nice contrast to the print.

Or tweak the settings in Photoshop to customize a color that works just right for your interiors.

 

How would you use prints like these in your home?

Now I'm off to open some old, heavy coffee table books and see what might be hidden inside!

Sew Liberated Holiday Traditions Exchange

What a wonderful exchange this is! I did it last year for the first time, and was really looking forward to the 2009 exchange. Many thanks to Meg for continuing to organize this (and while busy with new baby and a new book!)

My exchange partner was the ever-creative Annika of Through The Looking Glass. My cross-country match-up is expecting baby #2 any day now, and has a great blog - check it out!

For my holiday decorations, I started with my ridiculous love of paper. While not technically a "decoration," these gift tags will look beautiful adorning a package.  The great stamps came from PaperSource, and I heat embossed the white tags with a red powder, and tied them up with red raffia.

The next part of the exchange was inspired by this post on Design Mom. The negative space embroidery immediately caught my eye as a hip new take on an old-school art form. It was quite a bit harder than I expected, but I'm really pleased with this first attempt.

 

The family recipe I included was the sea-glass candy recipe that we used to make holiday treats for our friends. I thought Annika and her family might enjoy these tasty treats and could easily make them as a family.

All wrapped up in some remnants of this great Heather Bailey fabric, I think it made a lovely package! 

 

Chicken Feeders? Planters? What in the world?

So I picked these up at a local antique store recently. I was inspired by the Eddie Ross flea market mantra of snatching up what you love when you see it, I snapped these up, thinking they were really interesting.

Unfortunatly, I have no idea what they are! They're about eight inches long and maybe two inches wide, if even. They're currently living in my desk cubbies, holding office supplies, but I thought they might also look cool as planters for small paperwhite bulbs, or as a vase for some short-cut gerberas.

What in the world are they?

(Did you ever watch This Old House on PBS? They used to do a segment  where the host would present a bizarre, old tool of some sort, and the other guys would take turns guessing what it was. They always had such interesting ideas. I have a feeling that the answer to my query is simple ... and I'm just making it more complicated than necessary!)

Sea Glass Candy

What a hit! Literally - so much fun to whack at it with a rolling pin, hammer, or in my instance, a metal citrus press.

This was our make-it-as-a-family holiday food this year, although I found that I was in charge of the hot sugar melting on the stove and once it hardened, the kids were able to whack at it and brush the sparkle dust all over.

The recipe is found here, but I'm going to repeat it below for you, with some of my notes added in.

I found great glass-topped/magnetic-bottomed spice jars at Ikea, and they are a great size for this gift.

Ingredients

2 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup water

3/4 cup corn syrup

1/4 – 1 tsp. flavoring oil (I used cinnamon & peppermint, and found I had to use much, more more than the recipe called for)

Icing sugar (to coat cooled candy)

 

Step One

Grease a cookie sheet or cake pan with butter.

Step Two

Measure ingredients.

Step Three

Pour granulated sugar, corn syrup and water in a medium saucepan. Place over medium heat and stir until sugar dissolves.

Step Four
Without stirring, boil the mixture until a candy thermometer reads between 300 and 310 degrees. (This will take about 30 minutes.) Drop a small amount into ice water. If it separates into brittle strands its ready. 

Step Five

Remove from heat and let boiling subside.

Step Six

Measure flavoring oil and pour into candy mixture. Also add food coloring if desired. Blend with a wooden spoon. (You’ll notice that it will get really steamy for a few seconds.) Actually, mine spat and sputtered and really intensified the scent. Crazy!

Step Seven

Pour onto greased cookie sheet or cake pan. Let cool. (I put mine in the fridge) Must refrigerate - don't waste the time waiting for it to cool. You're going to want the satisfaction of cracking into it!

 

Step Eight

Cover hardened candy with parchment paper and tap with a mallet to shatter candy into small pieces. I skipped the paper, and found I had no flying particles! As I said above, I ended up using a heavy metal citrus press to break it up, not having a mallet on hand!

Step Nine

Use a basting brush and coat candy pieces with icing sugar. I brushed the large pieces, then broke them down a little smaller and coated both sides and the exposed edges. Very fun. 

 Step Ten

Place into favor tins. (I lined the inside with a cupcake liner.) Tie with ribbon and adhere labels. My size tin called for an extra large cupcake liner, and then I used a 3" circle punch to cut out some decorative paper, which I inserted inside the lid. I then printed out a holiday message on cardstock, punched it out with the 3" circle, and taped it to the bottom of the tin. 

This was such a fun project to do, and the kids were able to take ownership of it also. 

Thanks, Intimate Weddings Blog, for the great idea!

 

Tis the Season

Wow, I didn't realize it had been an entire month since I'd posted, and much longer since I'd posted anything of any consequence. 

I've actually been busy with lots of crafty projects, and have documented them with my Nikon, but those photos haven't managed to make their way to this blog just yet!

As a little reminder to myself, I'll highlight in some future posts:

• The super-cute pants I made for my son from an Oliver & S pattern (my first!)
• Some new Christmas decorations, including a new wreath and paper-circle garlands for the fireplace
• Adventures in the kitchen, including a few new recipes from my new favorite Western Woman, Ree! Totally inspiring!

I've just finished up my goodies for Meg's Sew Liberated Holiday Traditions Exchange. It's off in the mail to Annika in Los Angeles. I hope she likes my Christmas package...I'll post photos once I'm sure it's gotten to her!

Textures

Here and there, I've been gathering up things that seem to have a common theme ... texture. Whether real or illustrated, these beautiful treasures either feel distinct to the touch, or give the illusion of such touch.

Check out this beautiful French wire tray that I found at a  flea market last month. It's fairly small, just a bit shorter than an envelope, and I love it's gently curved sides and delicate, yet sturdy, wire frame.

In a local home furnishings store last week, I saw this remarkable paper on their walls. I immediately thought about the walls on which I'm contemplating grass cloth, and decided I had to have a sample to bring home. 

The multilayered paper is a combination of metallic finishes and cork products. It is fantastic! It's a Candice Olson branded paper, but I couldn't find the exact one on the website.

And last, but certainly not least, this super-cool faux-bois packing tape. I have no packages to send at present, but come Christmas, this will be decorating my kraft paper boxes. Or maybe some simply-wrapped gifts under the tree!

Doin' The Flea with Eddie

I had a great time this weekend, hitting the flea market with my sister, led by Eddie Ross. We spent about two hours with Eddie & Jaithan, touring the market and stopping at some item-specific booths.

We stopped and chatted at booth's focusing on linens, glass, silver, serving ware, prints, furniture and jewelry. In each of those instances, Eddie guided us through some of the finer points of object identification and construction, and then elaborated on new and innovative ways to use these items. 

The quality of shopping was better than I expected, and I really did learn a lot. Annie from Firefly Hill  was there and has blogged about some of his specific suggestions, tips and tricks. (Plus, her photos are so much better than my phone pics!)

Both Eddie and Jaithan were so interesting, easy to talk to, and such fun! If you get the chance to join them on a trip, I'd highly recommend it!

We did find some goodies, too! I came home with this great little French wire tray, a half-rounded shape. I might use it for mail, but I bet it would be great with a small baguette waiting for some cheese! I've been searching for a small, simple footstool that I can paint and/or reupholster, to go with a rather ornate chair I have in the living room. This one, flimsily upholstered in a grayish-blue, is a simple and inexpensive fix.

We also found a great old apple crate. I might put little casters on the bottom and use it for toy storage, or turn it into a home for my ridiculous amount of magazines. But what makes it really special is that it comes from my husband's hometown. 

All in all, a crazy-successful day. My brain is still swirling with ideas I gleaned on our tour!

Flea Market Time!

I have little flea market experienced, but am so excited about my guided flea market trip tomorrow with Eddie Ross and Jaithan! 

I'm visiting my sister this weekend, and this will be us totally indulging in girl time. I'm more of a browser than a buyer, but am hoping to find some oval frames (for all the silhouettes I keep planning to do ... someday!) and artwork for my bedroom, living room, and dining room.

I was checking through my reader, and found that the author of one of the blogs I love to read will be shopping with Eddie this weekend, too. Small world!

This is turning out to be more of a shopping weekend than I expected. My sister lives in this great community, a mix of residential, retail and business. Literally right across the street from her are two of my favorite stores, one an old favorite and one a new favorite (I've only been an online shopper ... have never been inside!!).

I hope to be back early next week to show you all my bootie and finds from both this local shopping and the more adventurous shopping with Eddie. Oh! And I'll conclude my earlier House Drama post.

What Would You Do?

My mother brought this to me when visiting last week. She and my father lived for many years in Asia, and purchased this on a trip to China, probably back in the 70s.

My first intention was to make it into a sleek, sleeveless/cap sleeved, straight dress, leaving the frogs up the front (but sewed shut, of course!). 

However, some unfortunate stains dot the front (looks like soy sauce to me), and we can't get them out. It leaves the front pieces unusable for the most part, although I'm sure pieces could be salvaged. 

I'd really like to keep this, and use it in a meaningful sort of way. I grew up surrounded by photographs, artifacts, and books from my parents' time in Southeast Asia, and it really made an impact on me over the years. This certainly isn't a fine piece, but my mother has wonderful memories of it that I would love to honor. 

She told me I could just wear it to lounge around the house, to which I asked "When do I ever get to 'lounge around' these days?"

She wore it "all the time" (thus the soy sauce stains?) when she brought me home from the hospital. Lovely, I thought. You were also 25, were lucky enough to spend a decent amount of time recovering in a lovely hospital setting, living in a third world country, and enjoying the company of a full-time housekeeper. My life doesn't work that way.

I thought about some sort of runner for the dining room - it would match beautifully. Any other thoughts?

WWYD?